Electrochemical synthesis of nanosize polypyrrole in presence of aqueous surfactant solutions

Nano size Polypyrrole (PPY) was synthesized electrochemically in presence of three different surfactants namely CTAB, CSA and TTX-100. Cyclic voltammetric studies showed an irreversible oxidation of pyrrole in the presence of surfactants. The currents of the broad peak were 4.26mA, 5.3mA and 8.6mA for PPY/CTAB, PPY/CSA and PPY/TTY-100 respectively. The FT IR spectra of electrochemically synthesized PPY in presence and absence of surfactants were analyzed and the prominent peaks were assigned properly. The presence of N-H group in both cases suggests the presence of pyrrole units in the polymer. From the XRD results the particle sizes of all the four PPYs were determined and the values are as follows: PPY (34 nm), PPY/CSA (31 nm), PPY/CTAB (30nm), PPY/TTX-100 (29 nm). The PPY/TTX-100 exhibited highest electrical conductivity (2.04 x10(-3) S/cm) among other PPY synthesized (PPY/CTAB - 1.13 x10(-3) S/cm, PPY/CSA - 1.09x10(-3) S/cm and PPY - 1.27 x10(-3) S/cm). SEM images of PPY/CSA showed agglomerated small polymeric fragments whereas PPY/CTAB showed large sized polymeric plates. Interestingly PPY/TTX-100 showed uniform hollow structure. The presence of surfactants has resulted in uniform polymer formation.